The present invention relates to an RF coil assembly (radio frequency coil assembly) and, in particular, to a phased array type RF coil assembly for an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) apparatus.
In an MRI apparatus performing parallel imaging and the like, a magnetic resonance signal from an object is received by a plurality of RF coils. The signals received by the plurality of RF coils are received by a plurality of receivers.
The plurality of RF coils construct a phased array. In the phased array, there is provided a decoupling means in order to prevent the adjacent RF coils from being magnetically coupled to each other (refer to, for example, a patent document 1)
[Patent document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-119495 (pages 3 and 4, FIGS. 1 and 2)
In the case of constructing an RF coil assembly in the shape of a cylinder, in order to enhance a filling factor and at the same time to facilitate mounting and dismounting the RF coil assembly on and from an object, there are cases where the RF coil assembly can be decoupled, for example, in an anterior and posterior direction. In this case, it is desired to eliminate the need for connecting and disconnecting an electric path including a decoupling means at decoupling portions.